5 Companies With Low Valuations And High Dividends

Tickers in this Article: ERF, EVEP, FLY, NRF, WH

It's not common to find companies that trade below their breakup value (i.e., less than book value) after a 60%-plus rise in the broad market, yet still pay out hefty dividends. But when the package is also delivered up with low P/E readings and some momentum to boot, you'd have to be crazy not to take a look.

Here are several such issues: companies with price-to-book ratios of less than one, dividend yields of better than 7% and multiples of less than six-times last year's earnings.

Northstar Realty Finance (NRF, $3.45) is an investment company that invests in commercial real estate debt and equity. The company is structured as a REIT for income tax purposes and currently boasts some very strong fundamentals.

NRF's dividend yield is a very healthy 11.44% and the P/E ratio is a measly 0.73. The stock currently trades well below book value with a P/B of just 0.22.

Babcock & Brown Air, Ltd. (FLY, $8.82) also sports a very low P/E ratio, at just 3.37-times last year's earnings. The Ireland-based lessor of jet airlines also pays a handsome 8.92% annual dividend and trades with a P/B of 0.58.

Babcock & Brown shares are up over 250% since bottoming in February.

EV Energy Partners, L.P. (EVEP, $25.10) is a Master Limited Partnership (MLP, $6.00) that develops and operates oil and natural gas properties across the United States. The stock trades with a 1.38 trailing P/E and is no slouch in the yield department, either, offering an annual payout of 11.84%. P/B on the stock is 0.91.

WSP Holdings (WH, $4.02) is an American company that conducts all of its operations through China-based subsidiaries. The company produces parts for use in the oil-drilling business and pays an annual 7.44% dividend yield. The P/E is 4.66 and P/B of 0.95.

Enerplus Resources Fund (ERF, $22.79) has a P/B of 0.97 and trades with a multiple of 5.75-times last year's earnings. The stock also fetches 8.89% annually for those who seek income. Enerplus is a closed-end investment fund that invests in the crude oil and natural gas assets of its subsidiaries.

investopedia.com

Did the Board of Poniard Pharmaceuticals, Inc. know something that the rest of us didn't?

On November 16, 2009, Poniard Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (PARD) plunged to $1.77 a share follwing the announcement that its pivotal Phase 3 SPEAR (Study of Picoplatin Efficacy After Relapse) trial of picoplatin in the second-line treatment of small cell lung cancer (SCLC) did not meet its primary endpoint of overall survival.

Yahoo! Finance page for Poniard Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (PARD) shows that there were 1,484,886 shares sold as inside transactions for an average of $8.18 a share from November 5th thru November 9th, just a week before Phase 3 SPEAR's negative result.

Same activities were reported on NASDAQ page for Poniard Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (PARD).

ACTC seeks FDA OK for stem cell study to treat blindness

Worcester-based biotech Advanced Cell Technology Inc. (ACTC, $0.10) has filed an investigational new drug application to use human embryonic stem cells to treat an untreatable disease that is the most common cause of juvenile blindness.

ACT has filed the IND with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to begin a consolidated Phase 1 and 2 clinical trial to treat patients with Stargardt’s Macular Dystrophy in a multicenter study. According to ACT chief scientific officer Robert Lanza, Stargardt’s is one of a number of similar conditions, such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD), that cause vision impairment or blindness because of the loss of certain cells in the retina.

Since Stargardt’s has been untreatable, any possible treatment could be given Orphan Drug status by the FDA, which gives financial and regulatory incentives to companies to attempt to treat such diseases. That could speed up the approval process for the trials to begin.

“We’re hoping to get the green light early next year, perhaps in March or so,” Lanza said.

While waiting on that approval, ACT will be moving forward with other IND applications using the same stem cell therapy, Lanza said. “We will be filing another IND in the next few months, specifically for age-related macular degeneration (AMD).”

Lanza said that the company has enough financial resources to take both trials through the next couple of years. Just last summer, ACT was laying off staff and came perilously close to the edge — a victim of the expectations of stem cell therapies versus the realities of developing real treatments, Lanza said.

masshightech.com

President Obama cautions against double-dip recession

Although some members of his administration don't hold Fox News in too high of regard, President Barack Obama did sit down with the news outlet to discuss the economy. In the interview, President Obama offered what some are calling his "sternest warning" about containing deficits. President Obama believes that a further compilation of government debt could lead to a double-dip recession.

The president believes that his administration faces a "delicate balance of trying to boost the economy and spur job creation," but the administration has to set the economy on "a path toward long-term deficit reduction." He noted that it is important "to recognize ... that at some point, people could lose confidence in the U.S. economy in a way that could actually lead to a double-dip recession."

President Obama said that one way his administration is considering to kick-start growth is tax measures and other incentives for companies that hire new employees. The idea has some merit: companies will hire new employees in order to get the tax credits -- but that is where I feel the plan falls short. One-time tax credits are great, but what will happen if the company starts to lose money again? Who will be the first employees to join the unemployment line? How about those new employees that the company just got a tax credit to hire?

I'm not going to sit here and tell you that I have all the answers on how to emerge from the recession, avoid a double-dip recession, or solve the unemployment rate. Nevertheless, hiring incentives could be a short-term solution to the problem -- I stress the words short-term. We need to see long-term solutions to the problem. If you are going to give hiring incentives, give incentives for companies to educate its current employees to make them more competitive in the ever-advancing job market.

I wouldn't go as far as giving incentives for companies to keep employees (that leads to a guy in the basement grumbling about his red Swingline stapler), but we have to find a way to stimulate the economy. I just don't know how America could withstand a double-dip recession. It could be too much for the already weakened economy to handle.

bloggingstocks.com

Gerald Celente - Disintegration of empire America

By 2012:

• Tent cities
• Ghost Malls
• Boss nappings
• Roving Gangs

Gerald Celente - American Unemployment Rate Is Really 20% Plus

NeurogesX Receives FDA Approval of Qutenza(TM)

First and only prescription strength capsaicin product can provide up to 12 weeks of reduced pain from a single one-hour treatment

SAN MATEO, Calif., Nov. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- NeurogesX, Inc. (Nasdaq: NGSX) announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Qutenza(TM) (capsaicin) 8% patch, the first and only product containing prescription strength capsaicin, for the management of neuropathic pain due to postherpetic neuralgia (PHN), the nerve pain which can follow shingles. Qutenza delivers a synthetic form of capsaicin, the substance in chili peppers that gives them their heat sensation, through a dermal delivery system, providing up to 12 weeks of reduced pain following a single one-hour application. It is the first product from NeurogesX to be approved by the FDA.

"PHN can be an excruciatingly painful condition that can affect many aspects of a patient's quality of life. Despite a variety of medications for pain, undesirable side effects often limit their use and therefore, the treatment of PHN continues to represent a significant unmet need," said Lynn Webster, M.D., Medical Director, Lifetree Clinical Research, Salt Lake City, Utah. "Qutenza may provide a unique treatment option that works at the site of the pain and may be useful as a treatment option in combination with existing therapies."

About Qutenza
Qutenza(TM) (capsaicin) 8% patch is a dermal delivery system that contains a prescription strength of capsaicin approved in the United States for the management of PHN. Qutenza is designed to reduce the pain associated with PHN after a single one hour administration. The capsaicin in Qutenza is a synthetic equivalent of a naturally occurring compound found in chili peppers. Qutenza has also been approved in the European Union.

Stocks of NeurogesX, Inc. (Nasdaq: NGSX)jumped as high as $1.11 or 13% per share after after hours.